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500 Won
| Issuer | Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea |
|---|---|
| Year | 2018 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | P#CS WC21 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 조선민주주의인민공화국 중앙은행 조선민주주의인민공화국 창건70돐 (1948-2018) 오백원 500 |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in shades of lilac and grey, centred on a large denominational numeral '500' set within an elaborate multi-layered guilloche rosette. A smaller latent-image panel with the numeral '500' appears at lower right, and the issuer's name in Korean runs along the top margin. The lower left carries the spelled-out denomination '오백원' above a fine-line security microprint band. |
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| Comments |
North Korea's domestic currency system has long operated in parallel with a separate "won" denominated in foreign exchange certificates — a distinction that matters here. By 2018, the DPRK had been issuing progressively higher denominations as chronic inflationary pressure following the catastrophic 2009 currency redenomination continued to erode purchasing power. That redenomination, which slashed two zeros from all existing notes and capped household exchanges at 100,000 won, wiped out private savings overnight and remains one of the most disruptive monetary events in modern Korean history.
The Pick reference CS WC21 places this within a collector series rather than standard circulation issue — North Korean notes reaching Western catalogs almost always arrive through third-country intermediaries, most commonly via China.